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Friday, October 16, 2015

"Lt. Gov. Newsom rolls out tough new assault weapons ban"

Great to speak with John Wildermuth for this one. “There’s a huge benefit to putting out a ballot initiative,” said Jessica Levinson, who teaches classes in election law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “It’s a way to get out your positions and increase your visibility that isn’t subject to the same sort of campaign finance restrictions a candidate faces.”...

There’s nothing illegal about blurring the line between an initiative and a would-be candidate who supports it, although it’s a way of gaming a system that treats the finances of ballot measures and office seekers very differently, Levinson said.

Newsom has always been incredibly good at political timing, she said, being out front of the same-sex marriage issue, marijuana legalization — also likely to be on the November 2016 ballot — and now gun control.

“Would he have been as involved if he wasn’t running for office? Possibly not,” Levinson said. “But is that anything nefarious? Probably not, it’s just the way politics is played.”